The Iron Age 1892-05-12: Vol 49

‘THE Nova Scotia Mineral Production. We have received from E. Gilpin, Jr., inspector of mines, Halifax, Nova Scotia, a copy of the report of the Department of Mines of Nova Scotia for the year 1891. From it we take the following table, giving asummary of the mineral production of the province for 1891, as compared with that of the previous year: 1890, 1891. Cet COE isp neargss. sass 23,391 Iron ore, short tons............. 55,191 57,311 TIN-PLATE WORKS Manganese ore, short tons ..... 266 4) Coal raised, long tons .......... 1,984,001 2,044,784 Coke made, long tons....... .. 36,738 34,148 Gypsum exported, short tons.. 146,003 161,934 Grindstones, &c., value .... ... $8,385 $19,800 Molding sand exported, short Wi xs cc cedeenae a Cepubavinn@ers 170 230 Antimony ore exported, short eee wae 4 10 | Limestone, short tons.......... 35,000 18,000 | Copper ore, short tons... ...... 1,000 900 With regard to the iron industry the re- port states that an increased interest has been exhibited the past season. The Lon- donderry Iron Company have rebuilt one of their furnaces and raised it to a hight of 75 feet from its original 63 feet, and Tuurspay, May 12, 1892. IRON AGE inches at the bosh. This seems dispropor- tionately Jarge at the bosh, but it is so stated in the report. Three stoves heat the blast. There are two blow- ing engines of 1000 horse-power each. The anticipated yield is 100 tons per day. The coke ovens are of the Coppee pattern, said to be the first of | their pattern to go into operation in America. The Pictou Charcoal Iron Com- pany have located at Bridgeville and will build a charcoal furnace 50 feet by 11. This is the furnace to which the ma- View of Tinning House. OF THE ST. chinery of the old Katahdin Furnace in Maine is to be removed. At Torbrook, Annapolis County, a rich bed of red hema- tite ore is being worked. It contains about 60 per cent. metallic iron, 9 to 10 per cent. of silica, 4 to 5 per cent. of lime and 0.3 per cent. of phosphoric acid, with atraceof sulphur. The vre is shipped to Londonderry. Other publications received from Mr. Gilpin embrace a paper on the iron ores of Nova Scotia, read by him before the Cana- dian Society of Civil Eugineers at the session of 1891, and analyses of Nova Scotia coals and other minerals, read before two new kilns for roasting spathic ores; the Nova Scotian Institute of Science. have been erected, having a capacity of 100 tons daily. The New Glasgow Iron, Coal and Railway Company expect to have their furnace in blast next June. Itisa These documents contain a great deal of very interesting information relative to the quality of the iron ore and coal found in the province. ; coke furnace, 65 feet high by 25 feet 6| Tin-Plate Works of the St. Louis Stamping Company. The subject of establishing the tin-plate industry in the United States was strongly agitated during the sessions of the Fiftieth Congress. By special solicitation the St. Louis Stampng Company of St. Louis, Mo., were induced to write a letter to the Senate Committee on Finance having this matter in charge, in which they agreed to go into the manufacture of tin plate if the duty was so arranged that it would, in bY | i yin Lac) Ta. a 7) a ee t Ce ae {UEP om , 4 be Pe li bg 7 Fi a LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY. part at least, enable them to overcome the difference between the American and Eu- ropean scales of wages. It was not, how- ever, until the passage of the McKinley bill that the manufacture of tin plate in the United States was made a possibility. American labor in the iron and steel trades is paid from 100 to 150 per cent. higher than is paid in Europe for the same work. The duty im- posed upon tin plates being on an aver- age about 75 per cent., it can be seen at a glance that it does not in any way cover the actual difference between the two scales of wages. This difference the man- ufacturers expect to make up in the close proximity and superabundance of raw materials, favorable location of works, and special economies to be introduced, so that in spite of the higher wages they will 910 be able to make a hiving profit out of the industry, when once firmly established. The iron for Granite iron ware being rolled exactly as that required for tin plate, the St. Louis Stamping Company were able to produce in small experimental works a first-class article of tin plate as early as November, 1890, samples of which were distributed all over the United THE IRON AGE. a sheet mill 150 feet long by 100 feet wide, an annealing department, 150 x 65 feet, and a tinning department 250 x 60 feet. The steel- plate bars are made in the other departments of the works, which, as our readers probably know, have long been engaged in the manufacture of sheets for the company’s Granite ware. In the forge mill the billets and bars are prepared and States, as well as in both houses of Con-| rolled to suitable thickness, width and gress, to demonstrate to them. as well as to the people of the United States, what could be done in a new industry de- signed to keep at home $20,000,000 anaually heretofore sent abroad. The Messrs. Neidringhaus applied themselves to the mastery of this new branch of busi- length, after which they are taken to the tin-plate works, where they are reheated and rolled to about No. 16 gauge. They are then doubled, rerolled three times, and sheared to the different sizes, The doubler and shearer used by the company is of their own design, and isin use no May 12, 1892 oxidation, being then ready for tinning, The process of tinning is comparatively simple. The sheets first go to the tinning, next to the wash, and last to the finishing or grease pot, in which they are run through rollers which strip them of super- fluous tin. They are then taken to the cleaning boxes and finally rubbed with the woolly side of a sheep skin, after which they are ready to be packed. Ten tinning pots or stacks are now in operation in these works, producing about 350 boxes a day, to which will immediately be added six more, and with these 16 stacks the ‘company will be able to turn out over 600 boxes of tin plate daily. The stacks now in operation are producing half Ead of Tinning House, Showing Pickling Tubs. TIN-PLATE ness with the indefatigable energy which has characterized all their undertakings, and despitescoffs, sneers and merciless criti- cism from the numerous enemies of the American tin-plate industry, they con- vinced themselves that the ‘process could be successfully carried on with a plant espe- cially adapted to that purpose. Plans were accordingly prepared for tin-plate works on a scale that would be a credit not only to themselves, but to the city in which they are located and to the country at large. The works have now been completed at a cost of $250,000 for the tin-plate mill alone, but including forge, bar mills, warehouses, &c, the investment is over $400,000, and we take pleasure in laying before our readers views of the different departments from photographs taken un- der our direction. These views show that the tin-plate industry has been well rooted WORKS | where e'se. OF THE ST. An upright bar, jointed at its base, has two arms, one forming the doubler and the other the shearer, which work alternately with the motion of a cam at the top. There are four mills in the sheet mill departmeut, a mill consisting of a roughing and a finishing roll. The sheets are then cut to the size required, after which they are taken to the pickling machine or agitator, to remove the scale and other impurities from the surface of the sheet, and allowed to remain there from 20 to 25 minutes. The agitator is capable of pickling sheets for 500 boxes of tin plate a day. After being pickled, the sheets are taken to the annealing department, where they remain in the furnace for 24 hours. They are then taken back to the rolling mill to be cold rolled, in order to make their sur- faces perfect to receive the coating. After in American soil, when an establishment | this they are annealed again, and repickled of such noble proportions can be shown. The St. Louis tin-plate plant comprises ' in the so-called white pickle, after which they are placed in water tanks to prevent LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY. bright plates, which are largely used in the company’s own works, save what are sold to the retail trade. The balance of the production is roofiag or terne plates. The roofing plates are all sold to dealers, and the company advise us that the only complaint received thus far is that the plates are much better than English plates of the same grade It may be of interest to note that the Government Building at the World’s Faiz at Chicago is covered with these plates. There are 11 furnaces in the annealing de- partment running on sheets for the tinning department, to which will soon be added four more, when sufficient quantities of sheets can be annealed to run the tinning department full. Arrangements have also been completed for the erection of a cold- rolling house with 12 sets of rolls for fin- ishing the sheets before they are sent to the tinning house. This will give the company two more mills in the mill proper now being used for cold rolling, which 911 IRON AGE. THE May 12, 1892 Agitator. Pickling Machine and interior of the Tin-Plate Mill. STAMPING COMPANY. ST. LOUIS TIN-PLATE WORKS OF THE =] ~ to b| Wy T ae lil cs eet _° - Pe ry tame will increase their capacity about one- third. In addition to the improvements noted, the company will also erect very shortly a steel plant, which will be located at Granite City, a new town now being built by the Neidringhaus Bros, op- posite the city of St. Louis. The steel plant will produce steel both by the open hearth and Bessemer process, and will contain boiler, stack and nail plate mills. The nail-plate mills will be run to prepare plate for the tin-plate mills, where they will be rolled to the thin sheets as above described. The company intend to be able to control the entire process of the manufacturing operations step by step from the production of the steel ingot to the finished tin plate. The location for a steel plant at Granite City, as well as for other manufactures, is unsurpassed. Coal will cost about one third what it does in South Wales, Eng- land. The leading railroad systems of the country connect at this point, and labor is plentiful and of ahigh grade. Additional tin-plate works are contemplated, and Granite City will no doubt contain some of them. The Messrs. Neidringhaus have been eminently successful in everything they have thus far undertaken, and promise to score as great a success in the manufacture of tin plate. They deserve great credit for the manner in which they have devoted time, energy, and money in acting as pio- neers in the establishment of thenew Amer- ican industry. The tin plate produced by this company, following the process back to mine and forest, will give employment to , 600 persons at a daily expenditure of from $1500 to $1800 for labor and transporta tion. To indicate to what proportions the | manufacture of tin plate can develop, it is | only necessary to add that it will require 50 establishments similar to the one we have just described to supply the demand in this country. hh While rivers in Illinois, Indiana and arts adjacent are overflowing their banks, in Northern Mexico rivers are drying up. i i i ried Mt THE IRON AGE. May 12, 1892 ; if ! . me i ‘ i f fi io —— ~ 4 —=-. peer 0000000, Enlarged View of Doubling and Shearing Machine. TIN-PLATE WORKS OF THE ST. LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY, THE IRON AGE. 913 May 12, 1892 iy , J 4 i Wl catetnininiiedanins dint oe Bis, j onl 1M Vea = > Mi) | So i | ; fs 1 | (yp ( ‘y ! ! I M4 Ped wl Te cae =F i | The Annealing Department. / i MU} | met | TTT . | The Packing and Shipping Department. TIN-PLATE WORKS OF THE ST. LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY. 914 THE IRON AGE. WORLD'S FAIR NOTES. A Strike On at Jackson Park, Nearly all the iron workers engaged on the exposition buildings at Jackson Park | struck for higher wages last week. Two | hundred men employed by the Edgemoor | Bridge Company of Wilmington, Del., on | the Manufactures Building refused to go | to work. They demanded 35 cents an hour, with time and a half for all work over eight hours a day. The men drew up a contract and presented it to Superin- tendent Hall for his signature. The su- | perintendent refused, and the men walked out. About 25 mer remained at work. Iron workers on the same building, em- | ployed by Frank Agnew & Son, struck | through sympathy. BOILER TIN MILL HOUSE | 100 X 150 RAILROAD e 2 ANNEALING HOUSE 60 xX 150° 432 ft. ANNEALING HOUSE SECOND STREET SHEET MILL BOILER HOUSE 100 X 163 WEST 65 X 109 SHOP They demanded 40 cents. The firm refuse to raise the wages, claiming that they can get all the men they need, and that put- ting on the staff is not skilled work, and cap be performed by any common laborer who can hold up a section of staff and drive a nail. On Monday of this week a collision between the police and the striking iron workers, supported by crowds of sympa- thizers, occurred at Grand Crossing, a short distdnce from the grounds. A score or two of scalp wounds were inflicted by the policemen’s clubs, and the excitement for a time was intense. The riot was due to the importation of men from New York, Pittsburgh and Baltimore to take the | tico supported by doric columns. | place of the strikers, who were employed | extremities of the uncovered platforms on per hour, the union scale for carpenters. | building, but were disappointed in the May 12, 1892 appropriation. Chief Samuels of the Department of Horticulture took members of the Ken. tucky board to Jackson Park on Wednes.- day to inspect the location of their build- ing. The plans for the Minnesota Building, drawn by W. C. Whitney of Minneapolis, were accepted by the State commissioners. The building will cost $25,000. The style of the building adopted is Italian renais- sance. It will be two stories high. The shell will be of wood, covered with staif to give the effect of stone. The roof wil! be of tin, painted in imitation of Spanish tiles. The entrance will be through a por- At the on the Manufactures Building by the Edge- | either side of the portico will be statues of moor Bridge Company. NORTH DESTREHAN STREET SCALES WAREHOUSE 64 X 142’ TIN HOUSE PAN ‘t 2 ~~ x + WAREHOUSE Q °o x ” o = x z < > a < o 69 X 130 ANGELROOT STREET SOUTH One hundred of | The men employed‘ the imported men who came in on the! pioneer on one side and an Indian on the 36°X 175 the original owners of the country, the RAILROAD HALL STREET STAMPING AND ANNEALING HOUSE 108 X 112’ CHARCOAL SHED Ground Plan of the Company's Complete Plant. TIN-PLATE WORKS OF THE ST. by the Edgemoor Bridge Company also| Baltimore and Ohio were interviewed and demanded the right to decide what men, if any, should be discharged. wanted all grievances referred to a jury of their own men for settlement. This de- mand was regarded as ridiculous by Su- perintendent Hall, who woald not con- sider it for a moment. The strike was probably precipitated by the success of the bridgemen employed on the Administration Building, who de- manded more money and got it. Contrac- tor McCain of Machinery Hall also yielded to the demands of his men. Half of his force went to work again. A. Gottlieb, contractor for the iron work on the Fine Art galleries, also granted the increase de- manded by his men, and then tuey refused to go back to their places. All these men are members of the Iron Workers and Con- — Men’s Union, recently organ- ized. One hundred and fifty staff carpenters employed by Smith, Crimp & Eastman also struck. They have been receiving 35 cents induced to join the strikers. Others, how- They | ever, were rushed past the strikers into the World’s Fair grounds. Two of the leaders of the strikers were arrested. The State Headquarters. Ground was broken last week for the Wisconsin Building. The club house, which is to be a villa in pavilion style, it is estimated will cost $30,000, but much of the material has been given. A com- mittee from the Wisconsin board will reach the city in a short time to make final arrangements for erecting a monolith 110 feet high of Lake Superior brownstone. The Iowa Board of World’s Fair Mana- gers accepted the site for its State build- ing, a plot on the lake shore where the stone pavilion at Jackson Park stands. This pavilion will be made a part of the Iowa club house, $35,000 being expended in making additions to it. The Iowa board expected to spend $100,000 in a LOUIS STAMPING COMPANY. other. In the spandrils of the arches of the loggia over the roof of the portico will be coats-of-arms of the United States and the State of Minnesota. The main exhibi- tion hall will be 67 x 79 feet, which will be used for displaying the resources of the State. On Wednesday the New York board ac- cepted the plans of Architects McKim, Meade & White of New York for the building to be used as a headquarters for the people of the Empire State. The building contemplated by the accepted plans is to be 193 x 97 feet, two stories high, and to be built of wood, filled in with staff. The estimated cost is from $80,000 to $100,000. The ground floor is to contain wide corridors, an information bureau, post office, parcel room, open court and large reception room for women. The sec- ond story will have a large hall or audi- torium, 42 x 80 feet, a general reception room and an apartment for the newspaper men of the State who may be sent there. The design of the entire structure is of the May !2, 1892 Italian renaissance order, with a sugges- tion of the colonial style. The commis- sion will next meet in Buffalo on May 14 on their way to Chicago, where they are to inspect the grounds and familiarize them- selves with other details of their work. Ex-Senator John Boyd Thacher, who is the active head of the commission, is in communication with Professor Ward of Rochester as to the probable ccst of a re- lief map of the Empire State, whcs2 di- mensions, 42 x 34 feet, will give a scale of 1 mile to the inch, and which can be placed outside the State building. The idea is to give in relief the principal topo- graphical features of the State, such as the Adirondack Mountains, Hudson River, principal lakes and the Erie Canal. All Want More Room, Lieutenant Robinson, chief of the De- partment of Machinery, finds that Ma- chinery Hall is too small to accommodate the exhibitors of that department. Appli- cations have been received for 593,502 square feet of space, which is 329,867 square feet in excess of what yet remains to be assigned. Lieutenant Robinson represents that it will be necessary to put up a special building for machinery ex- hibits requiring the use of fire, and has made a request for such a building. Willard A. Smith, chief of the Trans- portation Departmert, in submitting his report to Director-General Davis, says that he has already received from domestic ex- hibitors requests for 385,525 square feet of space, and from foreign exhibitors requests for 103,000 square feet, making a total of 488,525 square feet. In addition to this he has been asked for 39,000 square feet outside of the building by the Pennsylva- nia Railroad Company, and for about 40,000 square feet on the grounds for various street-car concerns. The applica- tions for space in the building already exceed the available area 54,423 square feet, with a great many applicants yet to be heard from. Large as the great Manufactures Build- ing is, Director-General Davis urges tbe erection of a separate structure for liberal arts, whicb, he says, cannot be accom- modated properly in the structure named, which should be wholly devoted to manu- factures. The Congress of Engineers, Ten thousand dollars have already been subscribed to meet the expenses of the Congress of Engineers in 1893. E. L. Corthel], chairman of the General Com- mittee that is arranging the congress, esti- mates that $15,000 will be required to maintain the headquarters during the fair. A committee, of which Octave Chanute is president, and which consists of the representatives of various engineering organizations, held a meeting in Chicago last week, at the rooms of the Western Society of CivH Engineers. The subject of the congress was thoroughly canvassed and the work of the committee was ap- proved. Already the most prominent engineers of the world have accepted membership in the advisory council of this committee, among whom may be men- tioned William H Maw and James Dredge of the London Engineering; Sciior Don Fernandez Leal, president of the Mexican Society of Engineers and Architects; Sir C. 8S. Gowzski of Canada, and others, Mr. Corthell, who went to Europe last fall in the interest of the congress, invited 36 engineering societies to participate by sending delegates. About 27 of these societies have accepted, and not a single declination has been received. He re- ceived upon all sides expressions of great interest in the coming congress, not only from the engineers composing these socie- ties, but from the engineers of the govern- ments of Europe, France, Germany, Hol- THE IRON AGE. land and Belgium. The interest in the congress amoung the engineers of Great Britain and the officers of the great societies of that country was not less than that shown on the Continent. Among the large societies which accepted the invita- tion were the Mechanical Engineering Society and Society of Civil Engineers and Architects of Germany. Each of these societies has a membership of about 6000. What the Women are Doing. The New York School of Industrial Art and Technical Design for Women has made application for space in the Woman’s Building for an important and interesting exhibit. Mrs. Florence Elizabeth Corey, principal of the school, describes at length the nature of the school’s proposed display. It will consist entirely of women’s work in the line of practical, technical design for fine frame body brussels, with border; de- signs on the lines of tapestry carpets; working designs for ingrains; sketches for velvets, wiltons and moquettes, body brussels and ingrains; practical designs for table linen and towels, for porcelain vases, vegetable dishes, &c.; working designs for wall papers with borders and ceilings | ‘ ——. ig Iwey lers and ceilings | and that the general impression is that the to match; for table oil cloth; for stained glass screens, window transoms, lamps and lanterns; for decorating window shades, for book covers, for different kinds of em- broidery and laces, and working designs for calicoes, prints, woven and printed silks. These are all what the trade calls ‘‘ working designs,” capable of direct re- production by painting or weaving. Side by side with these patterns will be exhibited many finished fabrics manufact- ured from designs furnished by the pupils of the school. These are women, number- ing over 500 in all, who are working now in almost every State and various foreign countries. They are supplying many de- signs to foreign as well as to domestic manufacturers. Thirteen years ago, when this school was organized, women design- ers were not known, and the exhibit will show the progress they have made during that period. Colorado women will show what they are doing in the way of gem cutting. Under the auspices of the Board of Lady Managers, there has been formed the Woman's Dormitory Association, the ob- ject of which is to furnish cheap and com- fortable living quarters during the exposi- tion to women visitors, particularly those of the industrial class and of limited means. Four huge hotels or dormitories will be erected. The site for one of them has been donated by George M. Pullman. It is a square only two blocks and a half from the northern entrance to the exposi- tion grounds, This dormitory will be 450 x 150 feet, built in eight sections, so that there shall be no inside rooms, and | will have a capacity cf 1200 persons daily. |The rvoms will be varied in size and plainly but neatly furnished. Sites for the other three dormitories have not yet been selected. Itis estimated that 130,- 009 women visitors will be accommodated during the fair. The association will issue $125,000 of stock in shares of $5 each. No one person will be permitted to buy more than $100 of stock. It is expected that industrial and other women will buy the stock. Each share entitles the owner to its face value in room rent. The rooms will be rented out for 30 centsaday. To what extent the association will furnish eating facilities has not yet been deter- mined. It is believed that women who de- sire to visit the fair will find it of great ad- vantage and convenience thus to have a place to which they can go immediately upon their arrival in the crowded city, and where they can find safe and comfortable lodgement. The dormitories will be man- aged entirely by women. 915 Financial. A statement has been widely published with regard to the exhaustion of the funds of the National Commission which would make it appear that the exposi- tion was becoming embarrassed. This is not the case. The buildings and grounds are being constructed and pre- pared by the World’s Columbian Exs- position Company, who are popularly known as the local company, and they still have a comfortable fund to draw on. The National Commission is a separate or- ganization, depending entirely upon Con- gressional appropriations, and not draw- ing from the moneys raised by the local company for construction account. Miscellany. Director-General Davis has, through the Department of State, received a dispatch from the United States Minister at Brus- sels, stating that the B-lgian Government has asked its Parliament for a special ap- propriation of 300,000 francs, to assist in making a creditable Belgian exhibit at Chicago. Minister Terril states that there was a strong disposition in the legislative chamber, when the matter was under dis- cussion, to-make a larger appropriation, amount will ultimately be increased to 590,000 francs. United States Consul-General Gold- schmidt at Vienna, who is also an honorary commissioner for the World’s Fair, writes that everything works wellin Vienna in the interests of the fair, and that a good exhibit from Austria and also from Hungary will be sent, although the latter country is not officially represented. Consul Hammond in Buda-Pesth is doing missionary work there for the fair, and assisting the mer- chants in organizing their private exhibit. A Madrid paper says: ‘‘ Notwithstand- ing all reports to the contrary, the famous caravel in which Columbus discovered America, the Santa Maria, will be con- structed at the Carraca arsenal in ample time to be moored in the harbor of Palos, from which that great navigator set out on his first voyage. It will cost about $35.000 ; will be of 270 tons burden ; about 70 feet from stem to stern ; 25 or 26 in width and between 11 and 12 in depth.” The Swedish authorities will devote almost one-fourth of their appropriation, about $14,000, to pay the transportation to the World’s Fair and return of a num- ber of artists and artisans and technical students. The World’s Fair life saving station at Jackson Park will be completed October 1. It is to be a handsome affair and will be one of the finest life saving stations in the country. It isto cost $20,000. Bids for the construction of the building are now being advertised for. William Pretyman, who for more than a year has had charge of the color effects of the buildings of the exposition, has re- signed, to devote all of his time to private matters. The work heretofore done by the color department will be looked after in Chief Burnham’s office. — We have received from Marvin Briggs, 61 and 63 Rutgers slip, New York, a number of lists of machinery on hand in his establishment on the 1st inst. The lists are classified and cover an immense assortment of pulleys, a great variety of engines, many kinds of pumps, horizontal and vertical tubular boilers, blowers, elec- tric stock and miscellaneous machinery. The dealers in second-hand machinery and mill supplies are in the habit of issuing yearly lists of stock on hand, to which the attention of the trade is then called, but Mr. Briggs informs us that he puts forth a circular regularly every two weeks. 916 Neto 4 Marine Engines. The study of the laws governing the vibration of steamers and the possibility of avoiding it formed the subject of a paper recently read by A. F. Yarrow be- fore the Institution of Naval Architects. THE IRON AGE. at will first describe some experiments which we have carried out during the last few years, with a view to throwing light upon this subject. The Vibrometer. At the outset we felt the want of some means of accurately indicating and record- ing the extent and character of vibrations, Fig. 1.—The Vibrometer. 60 UNDER aati Al i BOAT AT REST \ \ 1 ee WEIGH BOAT AT REST BOAT UNDER WEIGH. at Rest Fig. 2 PROPELLER ON DE URNA ara anni Ani AMORAABnRN INVA Dine a NARA menenen intel tn A at Cc NO PROPELLER SAE NNneAannanna ny, gprnnnannnnnnnnnt ty Wetter yap tt MONCCsLArCHOHAOMM gy perth Mine Cc .—Vibrometer Diagrams, PROPEccEen NO PROPELLER j hii PrRopetceR ON HANA Boat UNDER WEICH NO PROPELLER Boat BALANCING MARINE ENGINES. |character and REV A May 12, 1892 and, therefore, devised an instrument for the’ purpose. It has been in use for the last six years and is, I believe, reliable, It consists, as will be seen, of a heavily weighted drum suspended by elastic con- nections. This drum is provided with suitable clockwork to cause it to revolve, and is regulated to make one revolution per minute. Attached to an upright fixed to the stand of the machine is a pencil, which presses lightly against the drum, around which a sheet of paper is wrapped, in the same manner as in an ordinary indi- cator. It will be readily understood that if the base of this instrument is placed upon a platform or the deck of a vessel subject to vertical vibration, this movement wil! be transmitted to the whole apparatus, ex- cepting that portion which is suspended by the elastic connection, and this being heavily weighted will not follow the vi bratory motion of the stand. Now, if wi place our instrument on the stern or any part of a steamer which is vibrating and | start the drum revolving, the pencil “being | pressed. against the paper makes a line. indicating the relative vertical positions of the pencil and the paper, or, in other words, makes a diagram which records the extent of the movement part of the ship upon which the instrument stands. This instrument we call a ‘‘ vibrometer” and it has mainly been devised by my friend Mr. Nesbitt. I believe the cause of vibra- tion in screw vessels, when running in smooth water with their propellers well immersed, to be mainly due to the forces produced by the unbalanced mov- ing parts of the machinery, such as the pistov, piston rod, valves, gear, &c., ex- cepting when it is the result of bad work- manship or bad state of repair. For exam- ple, as clearly pointed out by Mr. Barnaby in his treatise on marine propellers, vibration may be set up by a screw, the center of gravity of which is out of the center line of the shaft, or it may be due to one of uniformity in the position, area or shape of the blade; these causes being avoidable by proper care, I do not propose to deal with them. I would, however, take this oppor- tunity to observe that sufficient attention is not always paid to this point. of that Vibrometer Diagrams. From our experiments we have over- whelming proof that the vibration in a tor- pedo boat is precisely the same in extent and character when the screw is on and the vessel driven by it through the water as when the boat is stationary and the en- gines simply revolving without doing work, the propeller being removed. To prove that this statement is correct, I would beg your reference to Fig. 2, upon which are shown enlarged vibrometer dia- PROPELLER ON aii nacicaitiat sLOow E | | | | NO PROPELLER F §'ONS 270 OLUT AT E BOUT PEP MIN Fig. 3.—Diagrams Showing Vibrations at Different Speeds, May 12, 1892 ; torpedo boats when running and when stationary. fair average of over a hundred results, crams, which have been obtained from ) may be considered in this investigation as THE IRON AGE. an elastic body. This is illustrated by the These diagrams represent a/| well-known fact that when soldiers are It | crossing asuspension bridge it is often found will be seen that diagrams A and A! are | necessary to avoid their marching in step. 2Cc0 LBS. STROKE, L 2 FEET Big. 4 Single Cylinder TRAVEL OF BOBWEIGHT, 5 INCHES. 1176 gts 8s.) 134 LBS. | n | ¢ . 4G Y 77.7 189.6 LBS. LBS. E,H * 36.28 . 126.35 LBs. 8s. "iy, |80.2 LBS. Fig. 7.—Diagram Illustrating Fig. 8. practically alike; also diagrams B and B', and diagrams C and C’, A, B, and C hav- ing been obtained when the boat was un- der way with the propeller on, and A’, B' | and C' when the vessel was stationary without the propeller. The engines were making exactly the same number of revo- lutions in each corresponding pair of dia- grams. Not only do these diagrams prove that the screw has nothing to do with the vibration, and that it was owing to the} working of the machinery, but it will be seen how greatly our investigation is facili- tated by these facts, because experiments can be carried on with a boat at rest, and we know that the same results as regards vibration will be found under ordinary working conditions. It is a well-known fact that engines will impart their vibration to a boat at certain speeds much more readily than at other speeds, and it often happens that at full speed a boat may be practically steady, while at slow speed the vibration is excess- ive. This is dependent upon the extent to which the movements of the reci yore’ ing parts of the engine correspond wit the period of vibration of the hull, which Fig. 5 €20 Les. 6TROKE, € INCHE 917 would be by no means a difficult matter to determine in the original design, with fair accuracy, what speed of engine would be suitable to avoid vibration being set up in any given design of hull. We frequently hear of propellers being changed in order to reduce vibration, and in many cases a change is made with advantage, but it often happens that the improvement is not directly due to the altered shape of the propeller, but indirectly to the change causing an alteration in the number of revolutions of the engine, and thereby pre- venting their synchronizing with the natural vibrations of the ship. We hear of hulls being strengthened or being built |stronger than would otherwise be neces- sary with a view to reduce vibration. Doubtless this is done with more or less success, due, possibly, not so much to the | greater strength of the hull, but rather to the period of vibration being modified by | this stiffening so as to avoid its harmoniz- ing with the movements of the machinery. Building vessels of greater strength than would otherwise be necessary, with the object of avoiding vibration, cannot be considered a scientific method of dealing with the difficulty, if it can be proved that the vibration can be avoided by other Fig. 6 means and without extra weight; because extra weight of material added to the ship Inverted Engine. tends to handicap its speed. TRAVEL OF PISTONS, 16 INCHES. BOBWEIGHT TRAVEL OF VALVES, 8 INCHES. BOBWEIGHT~ X y S va----124 —14$-—> 23" 2o-——-49§————>-———- 24} — ——-4- 47 9 - —— 44 VALVE PISTON, VALVE PISTON, PISTON, VALVE AND CONNECTING AND CONNECTING CONNECTING AND AHEAD ASTERN ROD, ASTERN AHEAD ROD, ROD, AHEAD | |ASTERN EAR GEAR ETC. GEAR GEAR ETC. ETc. GEAR ' GEAR 337 114.5 265 114.5 286.5 162 185 264.5 114.5 LBS LBS. LBS. LBS. LBs. LBs. LBs. - LBs. Lss. f \ ff / a} [4 XZ 126:86-—--—- 232- 77.7 - 189.6 80.2 44.7 36.25 13,75 Fig. 8.—Calculation Applied to Triple Expansion BALANCING MARINE ENGINES. | Some years since we had a boat in which | severe vibrations occurred at 200, 400, | | 600 and 800 revolutions per minute, but | there was none at the intermediate speeds | |of 300, 500 and 700. The diagrams in | | Fig. 3 show very clearly how the vibra- | | tion varies at different speeds, and the | variation that takes place in the extent of | | the vibration when passing from one speed | |} to another. Vibrations of a Steamer. In a vessel, such as a fast Atlantic liner, | which is intended to run continuously at a nearly uniform speed (unless special means be taken to balance the machinery) it is of the utmost importance to carefully avoid the number of revolutions of the engine per min- ute synchronising with the normal vibra- tion of the hull. This cannot be carried out in the case of war ships and others which are intended to run at varying speeds; for if the speed of the engines be proportioned so as not to set up vibration at full speed, they will probably do so at intermediate or cruising speeds, and if they set up no vi- bration at cruising speed they will probably vibrate at full speed. I believe that it a a ef LBS. el 40.6 11.85 33 36.8 96.9 -------—-| 81.8 ----—— 110.3 Life niceasrasimigiils SMI ~-- 100. 75 Vertical Engine. TRAVEL OF BOBWEIGHT, 3] INCHES. 110. 7 LBS. H / 11.85 LBS. | D / / > 100. 75 LBS. | [%, 6 \ | * re ay JG, ee 36.8 LBS. 40.6 LBS. xX 413 LBS. E 228. 25 LSS. }81.8 LBS. ' Fig. 9.— Diagram Illustrating Fig. 8. Vibrations Due to Machinery. The true cause of vibration being due to the machinery, I think it will be ad- mitted that the correct mode of dealing 918 with it is to so duien the « engines that they may be steady within themselves and free from any tendency to cause the hull to vibrate. As a further proof that the vi- bration is due to the machinery, I may mention that two years ago I made a passage to the United States in one of the very fast twin-screw steamers. I selected a berth in the central portion of the vessel, thinking it a good position for comfort, but the vibration was found to be so ex- cessive that after five days it was scarcely bearable to those passengers whose berths, like my own, were situated at the point of Fig. Fig. BALANCING MARINE THE [RON AGE. tion i in steamers will agree with me that many vessels which vibrate considerably are in consequence creditcd with weak- ness, while in reality they are of ample strength, the fault resting entirely with the engines and not with the hull. Not only is this vibration a source of discom- fort to passengers, but it clearly adds con- siderably to the wear and tear of the vessel. Cause of Vibration, Let us consider exactly why an engine produces vibration. In an ordinary in- sitll 10.—Application of Method of Balancing. 12.—Exrperimental Model, ENGINES. greatest vibration. The vibration was found | verted engine the steam presses on the to vary periodically. When the two low- pressure pistons were descending at the same time it was excessive; but when one low-pressure piston was ascending and the other descending it was entirely neutral- ized. So distinct was the vibration in my cabin that it was quite easy to count the number of revolutions of the port and star- board engines, and we rigged up a tem- porary vibrometer on our cabin side, which gave us diagrams, indicating clearly the movements we were subject to. I believe all who have studied the subject of vibra- cylinder cover and on the piston, and from the piston the stress is transmitted to the bed plate. Now, during the first half of the down stroke the upward pressure on the cylinder cover is greater than the downward pressure on the bed plate to the extent of what is needed to set the reciprocating parts in motion, and this excess of upward over downward pressure lifts the engine bed and that portion of the hull to which it is attached. By a like train of reasoning it can be shown that during the latter half of the down stroke nh inn A TAH NN VW AWW WW WWW May 12, 1899 and the first half of the up stroke the tend- ency is to lower the engine bed; also that Sedna the second half of the ‘up stroke the tendency is to raise the engine bed, To sum this up in a few words, during the upper half of the revolution ‘the enyine tends to lift the vessel and during the lower half to depress it. The main prin- ciple which governs the whole matter may be thus summed up: As no internal force can move the center of gravity of a body it follows that any momentum generated by steam pressure in the moving parts, such as the piston, &c., must be attended by an exactly equal momentum in the rest of the ship in the opposite direction. Engines Free From Vibration, We will now pass on to consider how to lesign engines so that they may be per | fectly free from vibration. For this purpos: VERTICAL AT I@RATION Tee AS USUALLY CONSTRYCTED ann +N ¢ i BALANCE WEIGHTS ON CRANKS ONLY in iti BALANCES ON CRANKS 7 €3 S$ BOBWEICHTS Fig. ll.—Diagrams of Vibrations, please refer to Fig. 4, representing a single- cylinder inverted engine, which for the sake of simplicity we will assume has no valve gear. The revolving parts, such as the crank, crank pin and a portion of the connecting rod, can be balanced by means of rotary weights, in the usual way, and we then have only the vertical unbalanced parts, such as the piston, piston rod, &c., left to deal with. Now, if we have eccen- trics set opposite to the crank, at equal distances from it, and of equal stroke to it, and these impart an up-and-down motion to weights which we call ‘ bob weights,” each of which is half as heavy as the parts to be balanced, that piece of mechanism will revolve free from vibra- tion, excepting that which is due to the angle of the connecting rods. If we wish to place these weights at unequal distances from the crank, see Fig. 5, they must be proportioned to vary in weight inversely as their distances from the crank; that is, if one weight be twice as far from the center of the crank as the other, it will bave to be half the weight of the other, the sum of the weights in this case being the same irrespective of their position. If we desire to reduce the stroke of these weights so as to obtain a convenient length of stroke, see Fig. 6, we shall then have to increase their weight inversely as the stroke; that is, if we quarter the stroke the weights will have to be quadrupled, and so forth. It will thus be seen to bea simple matter to proportion the bob weights, their stroke and their position to suit what may best work in with any de- sign of engine. To sum up in a few words what must be done to avoid the effect of the momen- tum generated by the working parts being felt by the hull, an equal momentum in an opposite direction should be produced. If instead of using bob weights rotary weights of equal amount had been em- ployed, having their centers of gravity in the same position as the centers of the eccentrics which give motion to the bob weights, the engine would still be balanced vertically, but would be unbalanced hori- zontally. May 12, 1892 THE IRON AGE. 919 ggg SEES ee ——————————eEeEeEeww Balancing Triple-Expansion Engines, I would now direct your attention to Figs. 7 to 9, showing the caiculation as applied to triple-expansion vertical en gines. The most suitable positions are first determined for fixing the two eccen- trics which give motion to bob weights, in this case the one lettered X being at the forward end of the engines and the other lettered Y being between the low-pressure crank and its valve eccentrics. Each un- palanced moving part in the engine is then dealt with separately, as before de- scribed, and the position and amount of the weights necessary to balance it ascer- tained, the stroke of the balance weights being taken, for the purposes of calcula- tion, as equal to the stroke of the parts they balance in each case. For instance, take the middle pressure piston, piston rod, &c., lettered B, the unbalanced recip- rocating parts of which weigh 162 pounds, the balance required at X is found to be 81.8 pounds, and at Y 80.2 pounds, the stroke of each being 16 inches. Taking an- other instance, for example, the high- pressure valve and its go-ahead gear, let- tered E, weighing 264.5 pounds, the bal- ance at X is found to be 228.25 pounds and at Y 36.25 pounds, the stroke of each be- ing 5 inches. After dealing in a sim- ilar manner with all the reciprocating parts, if we were to construct two uni- form disks with each of the weights thus found pinned on its proper relative position, and place them respectively at X and Y, the engine would be balanced verti- cally. All the weights at X might be re- placed by one large weight equal to the sum of them, and having the same position of center of gravity; in a like manner the weights at Y may be dealt with. These are shown by the large black spots on the diagrams. These again might be substi- tuted by larger or smaller weights, as con- venient, situated nearer to or further from the center of the shaft, the amount of weight being in the inverse ratio to the distance from the center. It will be seen that in the present case the total weight of all the balances equaled 740.25 pounds at X, end 1178.15 pounds at Y, and the dis- tance of their center of gravity from center of shaft was 1.04 inches, and 0.28 inch respectively; these would be equivalent to a rotary weight of 413 pounds at X, with its center of gravity 17 inches from the center of the shaft, and a rotary weight of 134 pounds at Y, with its center of gravity 24 inches from the center of the shaft. These two weights would balance the engine vertically, but would set up a side vibration. To avoid the latter and retain only the vertical effect, bob weights equal to the rotary weights, and having the same vertical motion, and in the same relative position on the shaft, are substituted. This method was adopted in the engines we shall refer to later on. The correctness of this mode of calcula tion is confirmed by experience in practical working. The exact amount, position, and stroke of the bob weights can be ac- curately calculated in the original design, and if they be made accordingly no vibra- tion will take place at any speed. The calculations are simple. but care must be taken that they are based on accurate data. To estimate the weights of the reciprocat- ing parts from drawings is not sufficient, they should be ascertained by actually weighing the finished articles. Triple-expansion engines with three cranks, although partially balanced when at rest, are very far from balanced when at work, owing to the distance between the various reciprocating parts, which con- sequently set up a rocking motion which is the principal one to be overcome, and in such engines this rocking motion we have to dea) with in addition to the vertical motion of the center of gravity, this ver- tical motion being due to the difference in weight of the working parts of the three engines. The positions of the bob weights should be chosen so as to minimize their weight. What weight may be necessary to avoid vertical vibration of the center of gravity is constant, but what may be required to avoid rocking motion is di- minished by an increased distance apart of the weights. In double-cylinder en- gines with cranks at right angles it is a more pronounced galloping motion (. é, @ motion of a complex kind, being a compound of vertical motions of their center of gravity and a rocking motion. In a single cylinder engine the vibration of the engine is practically up and down. But with whatever type of motion we have to deal, the same principle of balancing holds good. All forces caus- ing vertical vibration can be neutralized by the use of bob weights, arranged to set up equal forces acting in an opposite direc- tion. Some years ago we thought the vibration in triple-expansion engines was due to the difference in weight of the pistons, and with a view to balance them, and, as we supposed, avoid vibration, we made each piston of the same weight in a first-class torpedo boat; thus we prevented any vertical movements of the center of gravity of the engines, yet we found no improvement. This clearly indicates that the rocking vibrations are of more impor- tance than the vertical vibrations in triple- expansion engines. There is one feature about the vibration of vessels which deserves attention, viz., that it varies in intensity at different points in the length of the hull; there are places where it is excessive and places, termed nodes, where it does not exist. mG, € Practical Application. I will now refer you to Fig. 10, repre- senting some engines indicating about 1100 horse-power, for a first-class torpedo boat, 130 feet in length by 13 feet 6 inch beam, having a speed of from 22 to 23 knots, carrying a load of 20tons. There is nothing special about the engines, ex- cepting the two eccentrics fixed on the shaft at each end, working vertical bob weights. To the cranks were fitted weights sufficient to balance them, the crank pins and partially the connecting rods. How far each connecting rod was balanced by rotary weights was determined by its weight and the lateral movement of its center of gravity; what remained un- balanced was balanced by the bob weights worked by the eccentrics, their stroke and weight being calculated as already ex- plained when describing Figs. 7 to 9. Experiments were made with this boat in the Thames and also in the West India dock. We tried her under three con- ditions, (1) without any balance weights whatever, as engines are usually con- structed, (2) with balance weights on the cranks only, and (3) with balance weights on cranks and bob weights. The amount of vertical vibration at the stern, as obtained in the river, is given in Fig. 11, together with enlarged vibrometer dia- grams, from which it will be se2n that the results corresponding to the three conditions show a vibration of 2] inch as usually made, #2 inch with b